Clothes-pressing machine



Aug. 26 1924. 1,506,594

c. H. LEWIS CLOTHES PRESSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 27. 1922 2 Sheets-She! l Aug. 26, 1924. 1,506,594

C. H. LEWIS CLOTHES PRESSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 27, 1922 2 Sheen-Shut. 2

Federated Aug. 29, W24.

UNI-TED STATES CHARLES H. LEWIS,

OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

CLDTHES-PRESSING- MACHINE.

Application filed October 27, 1922. Serial No. 597,383.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, CHARLES H. Lewis, a citizen of. the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes- .Pressing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes press ng machines, and has for its object to provide novel construction and arrangement of the pressing members, commonly designated the buck, which is usually the stationar part, and the presser head, which is move. le towards and away from the buck during the pressing operations. further object is to provide pressing members of the class, which are arranged with separate steam chambers, wherein one chamber is constantly siipplied with the steam for maintaining a normal heat of the member, while the other chamher is charged intermittently with the steam during the pressing periods, the latter steam being utilized principally for pressing of the garments, yet serving in a complementary manner for raising or lowering the temperature of the member in the vicinity of the pressing surface, during the pressing operations. A further object is to so construct the body of the presser head that the chamber which receives the pressing fluid comprises an indentation or recess that faces the other member. And a further object is to provide a novel pressing plate, which closes the recess, and complements the unindented surface of the operations.

This invention relates particularly to improvements in the clothes pressing machines shown and described in my application, filed April 17, 1922, Serial No. 553,831 which has matured into Patent No. 1,469,006, on Sept. 25, 1923.

if attain these objects by the means set forth in the detailed description which fol lows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section, taken on line 11 of Fig. 2; showing the presser head and buck in t e pressing position. Fig. 2 is an enlar ed central vertical longitndinal section, tafien on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom face view of the presser head with the presser plate removed; show ing the arrangement of the recess which contains the pressing fluid. Fig. i is an en-.

member, during the pressing larged vertical cross-section, taken on line of Fig. 7; showing the presser plate perforated to correspond to the shape of the recess in the presser head. Fig. 5 is a similar section, taken on line 55 of Fig. 8; showing the presser plate reduced to conform to and e received within the mouth of the recess of the head. Fig. 6 is a broken bottom face view of the presser head shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 7 is a similar view of the presser head shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a bottom face view of the presser head showing the presser plate closing the mouth of the recess. Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section, taken on line 99 of Fig. 8; showing the cement filled gutters for sealing the plate. Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the presserhead and buck in the pressing position; showing felt or other pads disposed between t e pressing surfaces of the parts.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, 2 represents a chamber 2, which is supplied with steam for maintaining a certain temperature during the pressing periods. buck 2 is not shown supported, butit will be understood that it may be mounted and supported in any usual or suitable manner.

3 represents the presser head, which-is movable, in a well-known manner, towards and away from the buck during the pressing of the garments, and consists of a relatively broad concavo-convex portion 3, which conforms to and receives the pressing surface 2 of the buck during the pressing 0 erations, as shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 10. T e bottom face of the portion 3 is preferably formed with a plurality of connected long1- tudinal and transverse recesses 3"3 which comprise a chamber A, the latter being supplied with steam by a pipe 3, and the steam may be exhausted through a pipe or port 3' (see Figs. 1 and 2).

in my former application referred to, the presser head is provided with a relatively deep downwardly facing recess, in which is inserted a correspondingly shaped hollow casting or spider, which is independently charged with steam during the pressing op erations. This spider has been found to be a difiicult part to make, because of its peculiar and complicated form, and the tendency of the casting to warp, and invariably requires considerable grinding and truingup, in order to be inserted in the recess, which operations retard, as well as greatly add to the cost of production. In the present case, the head 3 is formed with a much shallower recess, as 3-3", and instead of employing the hollow spider referred to, I simply cover the bottom face of the head, including the open side of the chamber A with a relatively thin pressing plate 4:, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, i and 6, or else fashion said plate, as shown at 4:", in Figs. 8 and 9 and insert the latter plate in the mouth 0 the recess 33", until its outer surface comes flush with the alternate plain portions 3 of the head, and'which portions together with the plate 4 form the complete pressing surface of the head. The presser plates may be held in place by screws 4, as shown in Figs. 4, 6 and 7. When the presser plate is inserted in the mouth of the recess El -3", it is preferably substantially supported by a series of narrow ledges 4 that form the inner margins of shallow gutters 4, which are disposed at the opposite sides of the recess portions 3*-3", as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. These gutters are then preferably filled with cement 4, which efiects a complete seal of the joints and prevents the escape of the steam from the chamber A. The presser plates may be either plain, as shown in Figs. -1, 2 and 6, or perforated, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7. Above the portion 3 the head is provided with an integrally formed hollow dome, whose interior comprises a steamchamber B, the latter being divided for the greater part of its length by a central partition 3, and also by a transverse partition 3, which extends from the partition 3 to one of the outer walls. The chamber B is preferably supplied with steam independently of the chamber A, with which it has no communication, by a pipe 5, and the steam exhausts through a pipe 5. The pipes 55' are preferably disposed close to the opposite sides of the partition 3, which compels the steam to travel clear around the partition 3, for evenly heating the head. The chamber B is intended to be constantly supplied with the steam for maintaining a suitable normal temperature, whether or not the machine is being employed steadily for pressing arments. On the other hand, the steam for t e chamber A is preferably only ad mitted to the said chamber during the actual pressing of the garments.

The portions 3*- constitutes leg-like extensions from the normal heating. chamber B so that portions of the pressing face are normally heated, whether the extensions contact the plate 4 as in Figure 6, or constitute portions of the face, as in Figure 8, and other portions of the face are intermittently heated.

The curved pressing surfaces of the head and buck adapt the machine for molding many garments or portions of garments in a manner to conform to the wearers body, and tends to preserve. the natural shape of the garments, which is often distorted or destroyed when the pressing surfaces are flat, like most of the older pressing machines.

In practice the pressing surfaces of both the head and buck are usually covered with felt or other suitable pads, as 6-6, for preventing the direct contact of the metal with the garments (see Fig. 10). These pads have been omitted from the other views for rendering the drawings less complicated.

Obviously the construction and arrangement of the buck 2 may substantiall follow that of the head, to the extent of uplicating the recess 3*-3 and the presser plate 4, and still be within the scope of my invention, although such modifications are not shown herein.

My improved pressing members 2 and 3 are extremely simple in construction, and may be produced at a fraction of the cost of the correspondin parts of my former application. The su stitution of the relatively thin presser plates H, enables me to more readily and quickly heat up the pressing surfaces than is possible where the relatively heavy cast spiders of the earlier application are employed. Furthermore, the interchangeable feature of the presser plates 4-43 enables a user of the present machine to perform practically every kind of pressing work without requiring separate machines for the purpose.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

1. A clothes pressing machine including a buck and a presser head, one of said elements embodying a normally heated chamber and an intermittently heated chamber and .a pressing face having intermingled portions heated by the two chambers.

2. In a clothes ressingi machine, a stationary buck having a pressing surface, means for heating said buck, a resser-head movable towards and from the uck having a chamber adapted to be chargedwith steam for heating the head to a normal "temperature, and having an imperforate portion below said chamber and having a recess comprising an independent steam chamber, and a presser plate over-lying the recess and adjacent imperforate portion of the head, portion of said plate that registers with' said recess being perforated.

A pressing machine comprising an elongated hollow buck and a relatively movable hollow head, both tapering from end to end, and having pressing surfaces heated throughout, and means of different lengths for issuing heated fluid through spaced perforated portions ,of said surface the said pressing surfaces being overlaid with fabric pads for diffusing the heated fluid.

4. A clothes pressing machine including a hollow body tapering from end to end and being provided with a recessed imperforate pressing surface, a plate for closing the body recess and supplementing the pressing surface of the body, the said plate being perforated and comprising spaced portions which increase in length from its narrowest to its broadest ends, means for constantly heating the body, and means for independently and intermittently heating the said plate and for spraying hot fluid upon garments being pressed.

5. A clothes pressing machine comprising hollow pressing members both tapering from end to end and having heating chambers adapted to be maintained at constant normal temperatures and having imperforate pressing surfaces, the said surfaces being provided with recesses adapted to be closed by presser plates for providing independent chambers adapted to be heated intermittently during the pressing operations, the said plates having perforations registering with said recesses, and the unrecessed portions of said pressing faces being hollow and communicating with said normally heated chambers.

n testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES H. LEWIS. 

